The Daily Goodbye

Good morning folks. Hope you are enjoying another cool summer morning. Below are some highlights of obituaries around the net.

Sir Edward Downes, a conductor emeritus of the BBC Philharmonic and former associate music director of the Royal Opera House in London, and his wife, Lady Downes, a former ballet dancer and choreographer, have died at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland. He was 85; she was 74. They had been married for 54 years. The conductor had become virtually blind and suffered loss of hearing.

Mark Mandala, ABC Television Network president in the late 1980s, died July 11 at 72. The executive worked for ABC-TV for 32 years, retiring in 1994.

Joseph Earley, a Philadelphia TV actor known for his portrayal of Benjamin Franklin and other historical figures, died last week. He was 80. He received Emmys from the Philadelphia chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1983 and 1987.

And I just couldn't resist including this one. The late drug lord Pablo Escobar's hippo was hunted down and shot by Colombian authorities, according to Reuters. Pepe, as he was known, died the same way his cocaine dealing owner did.

Three years ago, the African-born hippopotamus escaped from a ranch once owned by Escobar and was killed on orders from the government, citing that he was a danger to the public.

Before Escobar was gunned down by police in Medellin in 1993, he had so much money that he bought hundreds of exotic animals. His collection included nine hippos.